All this month, we are writing in response to Pantone's dizzyingly extensive paint colors. You know the ones. Among the home improvement store's aisles of wood and metal, the paint cards glow like a double rainbow of writerly inspiration.
If you'd like to learn more about the project, read the introductory post. Then, check out the week one contributions (links at the bottom of this post).
Before I preview the colors for next week, let's give a big, Jazzy raspberry to Diane Mayr for her poem, "Odie's Dance Studio for Seniors." Diane managed (hysterically, wittily) to work in eleven of this week's fourteen "inspiration for writing" colors into her poem.
Odie's Dance Studio for Seniors
by Diane Mayr
Allo, Vera! You're just in time!
You missed the bronze god
who was here earlier. He wore
a little demi-tassle. Lord, it
nearly made my eyes pop
out of my skull! That jazzy
combo of 70-year-old
skin and silk would have
made you positively
green with desire. It did me!
(Put your handbag away!
You can pay Odie later, Vera.)
Oh Lordy, Sugar, you
gotta learn to corral your
passion for purple!
Are you having illusions?
Purple reins, lilac pasties,
and a amethyst boa, with
violet hush puppies?
A MONUMENTAL mistake!
Next time, add a little apricot.
It'll make the whole outfit pop!
(Oh, here's Odie, now!
Quick, Vera, get in line!)
Posted with permission of the author.
Line 1: Aloe
Line 2: Bronze Mist
Line 4: Demitasse
Line 6: Jazzy
Line 10: Kombu Green
Line 12: Peyote
Lines 13-14: Sugar Coral
Line 17: Purple Reign
Line 19: Hushed Violet
Line 20: Monument
Lines 16 & 21: Apricot Illusion
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| Inspired to put on some dancing shoes, throw on your own "amethyst boa" and head out for a colorful night on the town? Find this Jazzy little number at Etsy. |
My two favorite characters are modern girls, bobbed hair and all, Evie O'Neal and Ziegfeld Girl Theta Knight. For this poem, I imagined these two teens peering longingly into a shop window.
Jazzy
by Laura Shovan
Give me brand new shoes
in a jazzy hue --
raspberry leather
with a peacock feather
to grace the sleek toes,
and wherever I go
my steps will be light
as a bird in its flight.
 |
| Ziegfield Girl Geneva Mitchell, 1921 |
Here are the colors for the next week:
I hope your weekend is more Aqua Haze than Wet Weather!
Day 8 (Saturday): Peach Pearl, Meteorite
Day 9 (Sunday): Wet Weather, Aqua Haze
Day 10 (Monday): Amberglow, Golden Glow
Day 11 (Tuesday): Tarmac
Day 12 (Wednesday): Green Milieu, Whisper Pink, Turbulence
Day 13 (Thursday): Burnt Russet, Paprika
Day 14 (Friday): Oxblood Red
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| Day 10: Amberglow Pantone ® 16-1350 |
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| Day 12: Green Milieu Pantone ® 16-5806 |
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| Day 9: Aqua Haze Pantone ® 15-5209 |
OMG! Diane, you are a master poet! This is hilarious. I'd love to hear you perform it. In fact, why don't you fly down here next Friday for our Love Poetry Night right here in New Iberia, LA. I can offer accommodations and food.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, alas, I won't be able to make it. Really and truly, I have a dentist's appointment on Friday. Thanks for the invitation, though.
ReplyDeleteI've never performed any of my poems live. I read a few, but, I did it so quickly that I don't believe the audience was able to catch any of it! (This was at a poetry retreat where everyone was super kind, yet I still couldn't read my work out loud!) Insecure much?
Laura, I'm looking forward to your interpretation of jazzy.
ReplyDeleteI like it, Laura! The 20s is a fascinating period, isn't it? Geneva Mitchell is stunning.
ReplyDeleteI can recommend The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty (adult fiction, if you like the period, too.
Diane -- you'll feel comfortable reading your work aloud someday. It just takes practice, and a little bit of that Jazzy spirit.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book recommendation. I'll look that one up!
Have to take time to compliment you Diane & Laura, for both the 'jazzy' words! Love that little aside about putting the handbag away, Diane, & Laura, your poem with the raspberry leather and peacock feather is also jazzy, with the photo extraordinaire, too!
ReplyDelete